Since the previous podcast in September, we have seen ISIS rise up from relative obscurity to a headline phenomenon requiring the attention of leaders around the world. In this podcast we provide you with a summary of a few headline cases here in Australia to fill you in. We continue with the reading of the Tyranny of God. In Chapter 20, we look at a World Without God.

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or your favourite podcast software or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Since the previous podcast in September, we have seen ISIS rise up from relative obscurity to a headline phenomenon requiring the attention of leaders around the world.

Judging from the server logs and website stats, many listeners of this podcast are from around the world. Half of you are from the USA. The rest come from India, Brazil, Canada, the UK, Philippines, New Zealand and Germany. I would like to give a summary of events here in Australia to fill you in.

I am aware of at a few cases where Australian Jihadists went overseas to fight for ISIS. The first was Mohammad Ali Baryalei (Source), a former bouncer and part-time actor. There was also and an Australian teenager who went to Baghdad and bombed a busy market place, killing at least five people. They're not alone. It seems that there are many Jihadists are going overseas to fight for ISIS.

I find this all so ironic. Migrants from other countries come to Australia, Australia – its government and its people -- accepts them… grants them Residency and Citizenship rights, and yet they, or their children, go overseas to fight against the Australian Government, against the Australian people. The same can be said for the situation in the UK and the US.

In September 23, shortly after a video of speech made by ISIS encouraged Muslims to kill infidels, shed their blood and take their money, there was the case of an 18 year old 'radicalised' boy who pulled a knife and stabbed a police officer who later shot the boy (Source).

There was also Rasoul Al Mousawi who was shot dead outside a Shia Muslim Prayer Hall by a man believed to be from a Sunni extremist group in Sydney who wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East (Source).

As a result of what some Australians see and read on the news, they decided it was a good idea to call, Muslim Australians they see in shopping centres as 'terrorists' and tell them to 'go back to their own country'. (Source)

This is a mistake. The best allies we have against Extremist Muslims are moderate or non-practicing Muslims. It is they who have the influence and the power to have conversations with young men who are being indoctrinated and radicalised by extremist groups. Many Muslims want the same thing we want. They want peace. They want their children to group and contribute to society.

Therefore, instead of alienating them, we need to create stronger bonds with Muslims who also want peace.

Knowing that this is happening in your community, in your country, often times makes you feel helpless. And just recently, I thought, "why even bother"? Why even continue with these podcasts? Why even continue with this blog?

But we cannot give up. Even if these podcasts or blog posts eventually only reaches one person out there but if that person stops and questions their beliefs at some stage, then it is resistance: Resistance to the insanity that is affecting too many lives.

So let's press on. In the previous podcasts, we went through the 19th chapter of my book the Tyranny of God where I argued that we can believe in anything we want but, we have an obligation to justify our beliefs to other people because it affects their lives and well-being.

In our discussion of ISIS, a big part of their training process is to inculcate their recruits with their religious ideology (Source). These religious ideologies are possible only because they have been allowed to persist for so long, privileged, remaining relatively unchallenged by the rest of society.

Consider for example that ISIS has a poem it hands out to its recruits. This poem promises their recruits that if they fight for ISIS, they will spend the rest of eternity with 72 virgins having round and firm chests (Source). Look I am in no way suggesting that the motivation of most ISIS fighters is for this promise but I am just citing it as an example of a religious idea that we, as a society, because most of us are too afraid to offend religious sensitivities, we have insufficiently challenged the truthfulness of claims like these over generations and have allowed it to persist. Now, 2014, we have to be in a war against an army of young men inculcated with religious ideas such as this.

People do have an obligation to justify and argue for their religious convictions with the rest of us because religious beliefs can lead to disastrous consequences now or in the future.

In this and future podcasts, we explore and envision what the world without religion and superstition… without beliefs in a god or gods.

This Sunday, 7th of December 2014, Chapter 20 of the Tyranny of God, A World Without God.

In the previous podcast, I concluded that religious beliefs exist only to benefit their own progeny, not ours. In their struggle to assert themselves and dominate our minds, the memes inside our heads are commandeering us to wage war against each other and we simply become collateral damage. The sad thing is, even if many people kill and die for these beliefs, they are not alive. Yet many of us choose to act upon them and so manifest themselves in our world.

In this podcast I argue against the idea that everyone should believe in whatever they want to believe to the extent that we should not even question whether these beliefs are true, valid or supported by evidence.

This Sunday, 7th of September 2014, Chapter 19 of the Tyranny of God, Why We Need to Justify Our Beliefs.

In the previous podcast, we looked at how the foundations of our way of life, specifically, democracy and our freedom to think and to express our thoughts and our ideas continue to be undermined by religion.

In this podcast I will discuss the Fallacy of Religious Moderation to explore the ideas of religion being more modern, being more moderate and being more tolerant as though it has now evolved to a much wiser form of its violent and intolerant past. We will be prompted to ask what it is that we truly believe in and to think about what it means to believe.

This Sunday, 6th of July 2014, Chapter 18 of the Tyranny of God, The Fallacy of Religious Moderation.

In the previous podcast, we looked at the basic premise of democracy and the crucial concept of separating religion from the state. This Separation of Church from State is under threat in two fronts: Christian Dominionism and Shariah Law. Building on that in this podcast, I will discuss how Religions are undermining our Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Thought. This Sunday, 11th of May 2014, The Final Part of Chapter 17 of the Tyranny of God, God's Threat to Democracy.

Today, we live in a world that has accepted and embraced many concepts that were once considered heretical, blasphemous or just generally irreligious. Yet, in most measures, our lives are generally much better off than they have ever been if we compare them with the lives of our ancestors living in the medieval ages and in more ancient times. In this podcast, I will argue that Religion continues to threaten the basic foundation of our modern societies: democracy.

In the previous podcast, I went through how human civilisation struggled out of religious despotism from the 1600s onwards. I said that our thinking has been transformed in different stages from the Protestant Revolution, The Age of Reason and The Age of Enlightenment all the way to the influences of scientific knowledge and discoveries and the development of new thoughts and ideas in politics, economics and philosophy. Now, we live in a world that has accepted and embraced many concepts that were once considered heretical, blasphemous or just generally irreligious. Yet, in most measures, our lives are generally much better off than they have ever been if we compare them with the lives of our ancestors living in the medieval ages and in more ancient times.

In this podcast, I will argue that Religion continues to threaten the basic foundation of our modern societies: democracy.

This Sunday, 6th of April 2014, Chapter 17 of the Tyranny of God, God's Threat to Democracy.

In this podcast, I will pick up from where we left off and discuss how the role and our perception of money and wealth evolved from just something to give to the church, to something that people used as an indicator of their soul's fate, and now, as something on which we have built our capitalist societies. From there, I will discuss the rise of irreligious and secular ideas. I will list what they were and how we have changed the way we perceive ourselves and how we approach our lives.

This Sunday, 16th of March 2014, Part 2 of Chapter 16 of the Tyranny of God, Escape from Religious Despotism.

In the previous podcast, we broadcasted the first part of Chapter 16 of the Tyranny of God titled Escape from Religious Despotism. I went through certain aspects of our lives today and compared them with what it was like when religion was at the height of its power centuries ago, before the wave of changes brought about by the Protestant Revolution, the Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment.

I discussed how homes, and not just the church, have become places of worship, and sex became something that can and should be, enjoyed by both men and women, and not something dirty, to be ashamed of. We talked about Divorce, how people no longer have to stay in relationships if they are being abused, cheated on, or for whatever reason. People have become more literate and are encouraged to read books and educate themselves. We talked about gays and lesbians who struggle to have their relationships validated and acknowledged, just like heterosexual relationships. The last topic we discussed was how art stopped being an instrument of religion. Artists began featuring everyday people, not just saints and angels, in their artworks , and began expressing their thoughts and ideas about the human experience.

In this podcast, I will pick up from where we left off and discuss how the role and our perception of money and wealth evolved from just something to give to the church, to something that people used as an indicator of their soul's fate, and now, as something on which we have built our capitalist societies. From there, I will discuss the rise of irreligious and secular ideas. I will list what they were and how we have changed the way we perceive ourselves and how we approach our lives.

This Sunday, 16th of March 2014, Part 2 of Chapter 16 of the Tyranny of God, Escape from Religious Despotism.

In the previous podcast, we broadcasted the final part of Chapter 15 of the Tyranny of God where I hope to have shown how the two dominant religions, Christianity and Islam came to dominate our civilisation not by mysterious divine powers but by being methodical in ways that evolved over time as religious leaders learnt from what worked and what didn’t. For thousands of years, humanity has followed similar patterns of inventing religions, growing their number of followers through brute force and violence as evidenced by our history of wars and battles due to religious competition. Although we still have many people holding to divisive ideas and belief systems today, it is still remarkable and worthy of celebrations that we have managed to somehow break free from a world totally led and controlled by religious zealots.

In the next Chapter, we will come to understand the inspiring story of how we have accomplished this feat. This Sunday, 23rd of February 2014, Chapter 16 of the Tyranny of God, Escape from Religious Despotism.

In the previous podcast, we broadcasted the first part of Chapter 15 of the Tyranny of God where I began going through the process in which religions, more specifically, Christianity and Islam have come to be the most powerful religions today. First, they establish their god and their scriptures as authorities. Then they demand people to take their god and their scriptures seriously. They encourage people to substitute the need for evidence with faith. They instil obedience. They discourage doubt and enquiry and they enforce regular meetings to keep the faith strong within the minds of their converts. They then proceed to protect beliefs and silence contradictory ideas. In this second part of the podcast, I will continue going through the steps in which these two major religions have come to dominate our way of thinking. This Sunday, 9th of February 2014, Part 2 of Chapter 15 of the Tyranny of God.

Marquez discusses how the two most dominant religions today: Christianity and Islam, have spread. We will see how they achieved this by simply looking at the way their memes work together. We will look at how their belief system is structured to understand what continues to enable and empower them to thrive in the minds of people as parents pass on their beliefs and ideas from generation to generation.

Religions are just human organisations and like other human organisations, they are under pressure to survive. To survive, they need believers to support them financially or otherwise. Thus, they act like memetic organisms. Like viruses, they replicate in the minds of people, influencing the actions and behaviour of people the world over.

Perhaps gods do not exist. We only believe in them if we make ourselves believe in them. We kill and die for these gods. The tragedy is that in our willingness to believe, we end up wasting and squandering our resources and our lives and of others', as we serve and worship these gods we have imagined. Today, Sunday, 9th of December 2013, we will discuss why our ancestors used religion.

It is a common for religious people to say that their god through scripture, gives us a way to live moral lives. But does morality really come from a Divine Being? In this podcast, we delve into this question regarding morality.

This week, we interview Shelley Segal. Shelley is a Melbourne based singer-songwriter who became involved in secular activism over three years ago after which she released her first album called 'An Atheist Album'.

TRANSCRIPT

This week, we will be interviewing Shelley Segal. Shelley is a Melbourne based singer-songwriter who became involved in secular activism over three years ago after which she released her first album called 'An Atheist Album'.

In this podcast, I discuss how our ancestors, before they created religions, have come to realise that it is indeed wise to treat others the way you want to be treated. Today, Sunday, 3rd November 2013, Chapter 11 of the Tyranny of God, Why We Are Moral.

It is often said that a particular religion teaches its people how to live moral lives. Many people claim that religion is the metaphorical light that guides people to live wise, moral and satisfactory lives. Is this true though? Are we not moral without religions? Have we not been moral even without religions? These are the sorts of questions I want to delve into today, Sunday, 27th of October 2013, Chapter 10 of the Tyranny of God, Early Human Societies.

TRANSCRIPT

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. In Chapter 8 we covered memes. Memes include ideas, songs, rituals and jokes. Memes are copied from one brain to another. In Chapter 9, I went through two types of memes: beliefs and delusions. Beliefs and delusions are powerful because they make us act on them. What we believe influences how we treat other people. Individuals can maintain beliefs that are irrational, delusional and destructive. Therefore, just because we believe in something it does not make it true. In the last chapter, we asked, how, then, can we be certain that we do not choose our beliefs simply to delude ourselves in justifying and rationalising our thoughts, emotions, behaviour, attitude and actions?

Many of us suppose that because religious beliefs are adopted by many, they are assumed to be wiser, less deceiving and less misleading. And most of the time, we do not question this do we? People say things like, "I do or do not do this or that because of my religious beliefs". For example, someone might say, "I'm a Jehovah's Witness so I don't believe in Blood Transfusions". Most of the time, we might not advance the discussion further. If we do, we might ask something like, "why not?". The answer we get is usually something we do not comprehend, or find irrational or just confusing. But most people I've noticed, shy away from enquiring further because of not wanting to offend or seemingly ridicule the other person. We will come back to this in later chapters when I will argue that we as individuals and as societies should, and ought to question these beliefs for the sake of finding out what is true.

Before we do that, however, I would like to veer off to another piece of this big puzzle we are trying to put together. It is often said that a particular religion teaches its people how to live moral lives. Many people claim that religion is the metaphorical light that guides people to live wise, moral and satisfactory lives. Is this true though? Are we not moral without religions? Have we not been moral even without religions? These are the sorts of questions I want to delve into today, Sunday, 27th of October 2013, Chapter 10 of the Tyranny of God, Early Human Societies.

In Chapter 8 of the Tyranny of God, we got thinking about memes. We generally defined memes to be anything that we, human beings can copy. Memes including ideas, stories, rituals and parables made up by people and got copied from one mind to another. Over generations, these memes join up with memes that are compatible or they may also make new memes conceivable. The idea that there is a soul for example, makes the idea of life after death, heaven and hell possible. These in turn makes it possible for gods to exist and we looked at all the different conceptions of god throughout the world. Religions embody and codify these conceptualisations of gods which is an argument I will delve into in later chapters.

However, before we proceed further, in this week's podcast, we will first discuss beliefs and delusions because they are two most powerful types of memes that influence our actions, thoughts and behaviour. This Sunday 20th of October 2013, Chapter 9 of The Tyranny of God: Beliefs and Delusions.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. In Chapter 8 of the Tyranny of God, we got thinking about memes. We generally defined memes to be anything that we, human beings can copy. Memes including ideas, stories, rituals and parables made up by people and got copied from one mind to another. Over generations, these memes join up with memes that are compatible or they may also make new memes conceivable. The idea that there is a soul for example, makes the idea of life after death, heaven and hell possible. These in turn makes it possible for gods to exist and we looked at all the different conceptions of god throughout the world. Religions embody and codify these conceptualisations of gods which is an argument I will delve into in later chapters. However, before we proceed further, in this week's podcast, we will first discuss beliefs and delusions because they are two most powerful types of memes that influence our actions, thoughts and behaviour. This Sunday 20th of October 2013, Chapter 9 of The Tyranny of God: Beliefs and Delusions.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. In Chapter 7 of the Tyranny of God, we got thinking about language. In our quest to understand human nature and the nature of religions, it is important to realise that language helps if not facilitates much of the way we think. In this chapter, I go through memes. Discussions of memes are important because a few chapters later, I argue that much like living organisms are made up of genes, religions are non-living organisms made up of memes. This Sunday 12th of October 2013, Chapter 8 of The Tyranny of God: Memes.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. In Chapter 7 of the Tyranny of God, we got thinking about language. In our quest to understand human nature and the nature of religions, it is important to realise that language helps if not facilitates much of the way we think. In this chapter, I go through memes. Discussions of memes are important because a few chapters later, I argue that much like living organisms are made up of genes, religions are non-living organisms made up of memes. This Sunday 12th of October 2013, Chapter 8 of The Tyranny of God: Memes.

Last week, we defined what we mean when we use the word God and Religion in the context of this book. By the word God, we are mainly referring to the Theistic concept of God. That God is a supernatural being, who created the universe, watches our every move, listens to our thoughts and punishes or rewards us after we die. Jews, Christians and Muslims believe in a Theistic as opposed to a Deist or a Pantheist concept of God. These three religions are monotheists. They believe in only one god. We will refer to them as Abrahamic religions because they all trace their origins to a man named Abraham. Our use of the word religion in my book refers to these Abrahamic Religions not necessarily other types of religions like those found in India or Asia.

In understanding religion, I believe we need to understand how we think. Since language determines how we think, I deem it necessary to touch on the subject of Language. This Sunday 6th of October 2013, Chapter 7 of The Tyranny of God: Language.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. Last week, we defined what we mean when we use the word God and Religion in the context of this book. By the word God, we are mainly referring to the Theistic concept of God. That God is a supernatural being, who created the universe, watches our every move, listens to our thoughts and punishes or rewards us after we die. Jews, Christians and Muslims believe in a Theistic as opposed to a Deist or a Pantheist concept of God. These three religions are monotheists. They believe in only one god. We will refer to them as Abrahamic religions because they all trace their origins to a man named Abraham. Our use of the word religion in my book refers to these Abrahamic Religions not necessarily other types of religions like those found in India or Asia.

In understanding religion, I believe we need to understand how we think. Since language determines how we think, I deem it necessary to touch on the subject of Language. This Sunday 6th of October 2013, Chapter 7 of The Tyranny of God: Language.

In Chapter 1, we discussed the origins of the Universe. In Chapter 2 we discussed the origin of life. In Chapters 3 and 4 we went through Genetics and how evolution works through Natural Selection. Last week, we concluded Chapter 5 titled How Life Evolved on Earth.
So far, our discussions were purely to establish our natural history based on the evidence, proof and reason derived what we know of fossils, biology, geology, physics, chemistry and other branches of knowledge.

This Sunday 29th of September 2013, we draw attention to understanding the nature of religion. Here now for you, Chapter 6 of The Tyranny of God: Respite.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. In Chapter 1, we discussed the origins of the Universe. In Chapter 2 we discussed the origin of life. In Chapters 3 and 4 we went through Genetics and how evolution works through Natural Selection. Last week, we concluded Chapter 5 titled How Life Evolved on Earth.
So far, our discussions were purely to establish our natural history based on the evidence, proof and reason derived what we know of fossils, biology, geology, physics, chemistry and other branches of knowledge.

This Sunday 29th of September 2013, we draw attention to understanding the nature of religion. Here now for you, Chapter 6 of The Tyranny of God: Respite.

Last week, we continued listening to how life began on Earth. We picked up our story from the Teleostomes, a species of animals that evolved into the ray-finned and fleshy-lobed fish which later developed into terrestrial vertebrates, tetrapods, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Some of these mammals evolved into primates which include monkeys and apes. We pick up our journey of our human evolution after introducing our Hominini ancestors and we discussed the findings of Dr. Zeresenay Alemseged of the Max Plank Institute about the remains of a girl from 3.3 million years ago that looked human in many ways.

This Sunday 22nd of September 2013, we conclude our journey of human evolution with Part III of Chapter 5 of The Tyranny of God: How Life Evolved On Earth.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. Last week, we continued listening to how life began on Earth. We picked up our story from the Teleostomes, a species of animals that evolved into the ray-finned and fleshy-lobed fish which later developed into terrestrial vertebrates, tetrapods, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Some of these mammals evolved into primates which include monkeys and apes. We pick up our journey of our human evolution after introducing our Hominini ancestors and we discussed the findings of Dr. Zeresenay Alemseged of the Max Plank Institute about the remains of a girl from 3.3 million years ago that looked human in many ways.

This Sunday 22nd of September 2013, we conclude our journey of human evolution with Part III of Chapter 5 of The Tyranny of God: How Life Evolved On Earth.

Last week, we began listening to how life began on Earth. Life began as a prokaryote, a single-celled organism to a multi-celled organisms referred to as eukaryotes. With the production of oxygen and the ozone layer, life could flourish first from the seas then later, on land.
Descendants of the early eukaryotes evolved having flagellate cells which propel themselves with a whip-like organelle called a flagellum behind them. These opisthokonts gave rise to animals: animals that evolved bilaterally-symetrical organisms of which some later evolved to deuterostomes, chordates, craniates, vertebrates and jawed vertebrates. Jawed vertebrates later evolved to the teleostomes.

This Sunday 15th of September 2013, we continue our journey of human evolution, Part II of Chapter 5 of The Tyranny of God: How Life Evolved On Earth.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. Last week, we began listening to how life began on Earth. Life began as a prokaryote, a single-celled organism to a multi-celled organisms referred to as eukaryotes. With the production of oxygen and the ozone layer, life could flourish first from the seas then later, on land.

Descendants of the early eukaryotes evolved having flagellate cells which propel themselves with a whip-like organelle called a flagellum behind them. These opisthokonts gave rise to animals: animals that evolved bilaterally-symetrical organisms of which some later evolved to deuterostomes, chordates, craniates, vertebrates and jawed vertebrates. Jawed vertebrates later evolved to the teleostomes.
This Sunday 15th of September 2013, we continue our journey of human evolution, Part II of Chapter 5 of The Tyranny of God: How Life Evolved On Earth.

Last week, we listened to Chapter 4 on Natural Selection. We needed to find a way to understand how evolution works, because it is often misunderstood as a force that somewhat ‘mutates’ or ‘morphs’ plants and animals into other species. Evolution works through Natural Selection. The plants and animals that thrive in a particular environment are those with genes that help them survive, adapt and reproduce. Those that do not, have less offspring and will eventually die. The genes that are helpful to this end survive and are passed on to the next generation of plants and animals. The genes that are not helpful will reduce in number and risk extinction.

The next thing we need to look into is how organisms of animals evolved here on Earth based on the works of scientists in multiple fields of study. This chapter of the book is quite extensive and in the audiobook, it is about an hour long. To keep with standard lengths of podcasts, we will divide it in roughly 20 minute segments. So here now, for you, this Sunday 8th of September 2013, Chapter 5 of The Tyranny of God: How Life Evolved On Earth.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. Last week, we listened to Chapter 4 on Natural Selection. We needed to find a way to understand how evolution works, because it is often misunderstood as a force that somewhat ‘mutates’ or ‘morphs’ plants and animals into other species. Evolution works through Natural Selection. The plants and animals that thrive in a particular environment are those with genes that help them survive, adapt and reproduce. Those that do not, have less offspring and will eventually die. The genes that are helpful to this end survive and are passed on to the next generation of plants and animals. The genes that are not helpful will reduce in number and risk extinction.

The next thing we need to look into is how organisms of animals evolved here on Earth based on the works of scientists in multiple fields of study. This chapter of the book is quite extensive and in the audiobook, it is about an hour long. To keep with standard lengths of podcasts, we will divide it in roughly 20 minute segments. So here now, for you, this Sunday 8th of September 2013, Chapter 5 of The Tyranny of God: How Life Evolved On Earth.

Last week, we listened to Chapter 3 on Genetics. We looked at how replicators like DNA work, so that we can understand how organisms like us may have grown and evolved from the original replicator. I took you through what DNA, Chromosomes, Cells and Genes are. We learnt that chemicals in our bodies make up a genetic code, like letters making up alphabets. They make up words and sentences that instruct our cells how to manufacture the proteins our body needs. We learnt how this code is passed on from parents to children through DNA molecules that make up genes through sexual and asexual reproduction. These genes provide descendants of organisms with physical -- and especially of interest to us humans -- behavioural traits. I concluded the chapter by saying that even though genes, in their physical form, do not last forever, the information they contain is passed on inside living organisms for millions of years. In a sense, therefore, genes have the potential to be immortal and live on forever.

The next thing we need to look into is how organisms including plants and animals evolve. So here now, for you, this Sunday 1st of September 2013, Chapter 4 of The Tyranny of God: Evolution By Natural Selection.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. Last week, we listened to Chapter 3 on Genetics. We looked at how replicators like DNA work, so that we can understand how organisms like us may have grown and evolved from the original replicator. I took you through what DNA, Chromosomes, Cells and Genes are. We learnt that chemicals in our bodies make up a genetic code, like letters making up alphabets. They make up words and sentences that instruct our cells how to manufacture the proteins our body needs. We learnt how this code is passed on from parents to children through DNA molecules that make up genes through sexual and asexual reproduction. These genes provide descendants of organisms with physical -- and especially of interest to us humans -- behavioural traits. I concluded the chapter by saying that even though genes, in their physical form, do not last forever, the information they contain is passed on inside living organisms for millions of years. In a sense, therefore, genes have the potential to be immortal and live on forever.

The next thing we need to look into is how organisms including plants and animals evolve. So here now, for you, this Sunday 1st of September 2013, Chapter 4 of The Tyranny of God: Evolution By Natural Selection.

Last week, we listened to Chapter 2 on The Origin of Life. We fast-forwarded from when the solar system formed to the beginning of life on Earth. We came to understand how life may have originated from the emergence of a single molecule. We looked at experiments that emulated early conditions of the Earth to bring about a molecule we call the replicator. We referred to it as the replicator because unlike most other molecules that formed before it, this molecule was able to replicate itself. We know replicators exist because we are made up of them. DNA molecules are replicators. From there, we now need to ask how replicators like DNA work to understand how organisms like us may have grown and evolved from such humble beginnings. So here now, for you, this Sunday 25th of August 2013, Chapter 3 of The Tyranny of God: Genetics.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. Last week, we listened to Chapter 2 on The Origin of Life. We fast-forwarded from when the solar system formed to the beginning of life on Earth. We came to understand how life may have originated from the emergence of a single molecule. We looked at experiments that emulated early conditions of the Earth to bring about a molecule we call the replicator. We referred to it as the replicator because unlike most other molecules that formed before it, this molecule was able to replicate itself. We know replicators exist because we are made up of them. DNA molecules are replicators.

From there, we now need to ask how replicators like DNA work to understand how organisms like us may have grown and evolved from such humble beginnings. So here now, for you, this Sunday 25th of August 2013, Chapter 3 of The Tyranny of God: Genetics.

Last week, we listened to Chapter 1 on Cosmology. Cosmology is the study of the origins and the eventual fate of the universe. We discussed the Big Bang Theory and how the universe began 14 billion years ago. From there, we discussed how matter collected into clouds, which condensed. Smaller structures formed and they began forming bigger structures. We looked at how galaxies may have formed and how, 530 million years after the Big Bang, our very own galaxy -- the Milky Way -- slowly came into existence. Our own star -- the Sun -- formed, along with everything else in our solar system, including our own planet, the Earth, and its moon. Now, in Chapter 2, we fast-forward from when the solar system formed to the beginning of life on Earth. So here now, for you, this Sunday 18th of August 2013, Chapter 2 of The Tyranny of God: The Origin of Life.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio. Reasonism Radio is a podcast for free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists, atheists and religious believers alike. You can listen to our podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or by visiting our website at Reasonism.Org.

Currently, we are broadcasting the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. Last week, we listened to Chapter 1 on Cosmology. Cosmology is the study of the origins and the eventual fate of the universe. We discussed the Big Bang Theory and how the universe began 14 billion years ago. From there, we discussed how matter collected into clouds, which condensed. Smaller structures formed and they began forming bigger structures. We looked at how galaxies may have formed and how, 530 million years after the Big Bang, our very own galaxy -- the Milky Way -- slowly came into existence. Our own star -- the Sun -- formed, along with everything else in our solar system, including our own planet, the Earth, and its moon.

Now, in Chapter 2, we fast-forward from when the solar system formed to the beginning of life on Earth. So here now, for you, this Sunday 18th of August 2013, Chapter 2 of The Tyranny of God: The Origin of Life.

In the Preface of The Tyranny of God, I explain that before we get into discussing religion, we need to know what our Natural History is. We must begin from the very start to establish that we are all working on the same page, so to speak. Chapter 1 of the book is titled Cosmology. Cosmology is the study of the origins and eventual fate of the universe. I begin Chapter 1 with the Big Bang, because this is how far back human knowledge goes. So here it is, for you, this Sunday 11th of August 2013, Chapter 1 of The Tyranny of God.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org and welcome to Reasonism Radio.
I finished recording the audiobook version of The Tyranny of God. The editing and production is complete, and the website is now ready to accommodate it. To celebrate the release of the audiobook, Reasonism Radio is broadcasting the entire audiobook, chapter by chapter, in a series of podcasts.

Each chapter will be available for a week, until the next podcast is released. Reasonism Radio is available on iTunes as a podcast and from our website at Reasonism.Org.

The Introduction and the Preface of the book is already available on our website: here I introduce myself, and the background as to how and why I felt this book was important and went through how the book is structured. If you have not yet heard the introduction and the preface to this audiobook, please head over to www.reasonism.org. In the Top Menu, hover over Publications, then click on The Tyranny of God. Click the round, red button to play the Introduction and the Preface of the book.

In the book’s preface I explain that before we get into discussing religion, we need to know what our Natural History is. We must begin from the very start to establish that we are all working on the same page, so to speak. Chapter 1 of the book is titled Cosmology. Cosmology is the study of the origins and eventual fate of the universe.

I begin Chapter 1 with the Big Bang, because this is how far back human knowledge goes. So here it is, for you, this Sunday 11th of August 2013, Chapter 1 of The Tyranny of God.

This is our very first Reasonism Podcast. Today, I want to share with you a conversation I recently had with a Baptist Pastor. He is visiting from the Philippines with a relative of mine, whom he was grooming to become his assistant. We had a chat about the general state of affairs here in Australia. I was telling them how Australia has been doing fine economically but how recently, the demand for Western Australia’s mining resources have begun to decline as a result of the reduced demand for China’s goods world-wide. Slowly then the conversation progressed to what he thought was going on in the world. Because he is a Pastor, I expected somewhat of a religious tinge to the way he would read current affairs. I did, however, not expect it to be as bizzare as it turned out to be.

Hello, this is Marquez from Reasonism.Org!

This is our very first Reasonism Radio / Podcast. Some people go to church on Sundays to relax and reflect on life in general. I turn on the television and I see a televangelist broadcasting a sermon to an impressive audience, reaching many people all over the world, telling people that Jesus loves them and ask for donations. What do non-believers and freethinkers do when they have some spare time on weekends or Sundays?

For a while now I’ve been thinking of creating a broadcasting channel to reach out to free-thinkers, non-believers, Reasonists and atheists alike. I considered recording videos however it would take too much time and therefore may not be sustainable in the long term. I decided to record podcasts instead, so here we are. Podcasts are a convenient way to broadcast the spoken word, because they are easy to listen to on your smartphones, iPods and mp3 players while in the car or going for a walk.
So let’s get straight to it, shall we?

Today, I want to share with you a conversation I recently had with a Baptist Pastor. He is visiting from the Philippines with a relative of mine, whom he was grooming to become his assistant. We had a chat about the general state of affairs here in Australia. I was telling them how Australia has been doing fine economically but how recently, the demand for Western Australia’s mining resources have begun to decline as a result of the reduced demand for China’s goods world-wide.

Slowly then the conversation progressed to what he thought was going on in the world. Because he is a Pastor, I expected somewhat of a religious tinge to the way he would read current affairs. I did, however, not expect it to be as bizzare as it turned out to be.

He gave indications that he believed there is a global push for a single currency, citing the Euro as an example, and this, in his mind, is a very bad thing. Then he went on to tell about an obscure photo of the Pope. If you were to zoom in this photo, he proclaimed, you can see the numbers 666, which he reminded me, is the number of the devil as stated in a Bible verse he cited.

I was listening. I was quiet. I was trying to follow the logic in his argument. He went on to further list a few dot points which he was slowly working to connect. He believed that these, and other current affairs, are all the doings of an anti-Christ ,who is working his powers in the world today. He did mention atheists as somewhat part of this plan.

In my head I was thinking: ‘Boy, this conversation just took a weird turn’. I sat there listening to get a wider view of his world perspective. I didn’t really know what to say or how to react. After a while, he noticed that I wasn’t inputting much into the conversation, just verbal nods of hms and ah-hah’s.

I don’t know how it happened but all of a sudden, I find myself being asked what I thought about his theory, seeing I have been quiet for most of the last 10 or so minutes. I was thinking, “Do I engage him in a debate? Is it rude to debate him about his beliefs? After all, he is my parent’s visitor and maybe this will not turn out well. But can I, or should I, really allow these ideas to go unchallenged?”

After the debate in my head came to an end, I finally spoke. I said, “I am not quite sure what to think or what to say. You are coming from a perspective that is quiet opposite to where I am coming from. And the gap is wide. I am still thinking about how I can bridge it”.

This statement made him hold back a bit on delivering any more of his fantastical ideas. Then he became curious about what my beliefs were. He asked me about my religion and I told him I was born Anglican and Catholic, because of my parents, but if I were to formally sign a document of my religion, I would put down “none”.
He became even more curious and proceeded to ask more questions which lead to a real passionate, but pleasant, discussion during and after dinner.

I explained to him how imprudent it is for a person to base his entire knowledge on the writings of one book, nodding to the Bible he had opened earlier to support his argument. For example, if it is true that there is a push towards a single global currency, then we can seek explanations for this from other perspectives. The problem with looking at everything from a Biblical perspective is that you see the world through tinged glasses, imbued by your indoctrination. I pointed out that working towards a single global currency is something I doubt will happen anytime within our lifetimes. There are economic benefits for a group of nations to tie their currencies into one, but there are also many arguments in favour of a nation having its own currency. Regardless of how these discussions are going, you can explain things like these by looking purely into economic and political pressures. You do not need to invoke the existence of an anti-Christ nor conspiracy theories to explain current affairs.

I will spare you the rest of our discussion however I would like to share the end that to me was the highlight of that night.
After what might have been 4 hours, it was probably already 10 at night, he said, “okay we better stop this discussion because your cousin might begin to have doubts about the Christian belief and that’s not good because I was rather hoping he would become my assistant”.

I laughed then turned to my cousin who was sitting and following the conversation for most of the time, and said, “Charlie (not his real name of course), if it is the truth you seek, then do not be afraid to know about and read about everything. If you want to know about the true nature of say, Hercules, you do not go and read just one book on the story of Hercules that tells you he was a god. Instead, you go and read about the history of the culture in which he belonged, and about the people who authored his story. You look at independent sources of information. That is how you get to the truth. The same is true with any religion. If you want to understand their true nature, it is not enough you read their holy books, you also need to look into their histories and other resources that are independent of them. The truth always wins, so do not be afraid to pit ideas against each other because that is the only way to find out what is true”.

With that, the night was drawing to an end and the Pastor wound up the conversation with a funny joke about an Atheist, a Buddhist and a Christian. Maybe I’ll share it with you next time. Overall, I found it a pleasant experience to engage a Pastor in a discussion where we could go all out, knowing we were just debating ideas. There was no one watching, apart from my mother and my cousin, so there were no egos on the line. We could focus on debating ideas instead of trying to save face.

This is what I wanted to share with you in this podcast. Please share with us any of your own interesting conversations you had with other people. Your story maybe chosen for publication on our website. I hope you tune in again next time. You can subscribe to our channels on iTunes, on our website at Reasonism.Org, or on YouTube to make sure you don’t miss any of the next podcasts. This is Marquez from Reasonism.Org. Thank you for listening.